An important part of our project to harmonise our website content is also establishing our digital capability.
As I’ve mentioned in past posts, we’re looking to our peers, in local government and beyond, to adopt best practice working and develop our skills. All part of our wider commitment to the Local Digital Declaration.
We’ve started with a great base. The project team has wide ranging skills from content design, usability and accessibility, through to analysing customer engagement. There’s always more we can learn though. Technology and the way our citizens engage with us digitally continues to evolve. We need to respond to these changes.
Getting started: becoming part of the conversation
Over the last couple of years and into this project, I’ve found and helped develop spaces for digital collaboration. They’re a mix of online and, pre-pandemic/lockdown, physical meet-up sessions.
Hopefully, as we enter our ‘new normal’ and lockdown eases, we’ll see a return to some of the physical gatherings. Until then, many of these events have found a digital alternative.
I wanted to highlight some of the spaces my team and I use to help support our project work and widen our conversation beyond BCP Council.
I’m hoping they provide a starting point for anyone who’s working in digital, particularly local government, and looking to join the digital discussion.
From a more selfish perspective (and in the interest of transparency), I’m hoping to see an increase in the number of people signing up to the groups. It keeps the conversation fresh and means we get new perspectives and ideas coming through.
Online spaces
BCP Council digital engagement group: earlier this year we created a digital engagement group for our citizens to join. So far we’ve completed two card sorting exercises to improve the navigation of the website, known as its information architecture. Our next group activities will focus on developing our service website content.
We’re still looking for more of our visitors, residents and businesses to join the group and help us co-design our website content. Get involved today!
LocalGov Digital Slack channel: this is a great space for anyone working in local government. There’s a variety of discussion topics and you can join the group at any point. We’ve used the space to highlight and get feedback on our blog development work and link in with other councils about developing citizen engagement.
LocalGovCamp and regional peer groups: these events have traditionally been physical gatherings for people working in local government. That said, during lockdown and as it’s being eased, they’ve moved to a digital space.
Events include a wide range of topics and speakers, and happen at different times throughout the year.
Local Gvt Innovation MeetUp: I found this group, last month. It’s for people working in and around local government and organised by the Design Council. Meetings cover different elements of local government work but, as you can expect, digital features heavily in many of the conversations.
Physical gatherings
Digital Dorset Network: I’ve been attending this network since it started in 2018. Set up by Dorset Council, it provides an opportunity for local organisations with an interest in digital to gather and share experiences.
The group focuses on digital innovation and upcoming tech, so you don’t have to work in local government to join events.
If you have a digital story to tell and want to share your journey, its process and outcomes, this is the space for you. Get in touch and we can point you in the right direction to find out more.
Share your thoughts
If there’s one takeaway from this post, I’m hoping it’s to collaborate as often as possible and be an active part of the digital conversation. For councils and organisations, it builds a stronger, skilled team, which should result in better user experiences. For our citizens, it means you can help shape your digital experience.
What did I miss? In the spirit of learning, I’d love to hear from you about the digital groups you’re engaging with.
Let us know in the comments section!
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Digital 